4 Tips for Owning the Dreaded Phone Interview

By the year 2035, phone interviews will be conducted via text messaging, or perhaps through Skype chips implanted in our retinas. Until then, we'll have to cope with the potential awkwardness of the phone interview. It doesn't have to be bad, though: If you follow these tips from Lifehacker, you can use phone interviews to demonstrate your awesomeness, instead of showcasing your occasional social awkwardness.

Here are a few of the tips that stood out to us:

1. Be prepared. Make sure you've got the time and date right, including the time zone. There's nothing worse than trying to explain how attentive you are to detail when you didn't bother to find out that Detroit is on eastern time.

2. Dress up. It might sound silly -- after all, they can't see you. But dressing the part will make you feel like you're really going on an interview.

3. Slow down. Most of us talk faster when we're nervous. Speak at a slightly slower pace than you would in a real-life conversation, and remember to wait a second after your interviewer is done asking questions. You don't want to accidentally interrupt.

4. Say thank you. Just as you would in an in-person interview, send a thank-you afterward. Lifehacker also suggests thanking the interviewer's assistant, if he or she helped set up the call.